1909.1 Repayments under Small Holdings Act. 667 



(1) ascertaining- the demand, (2) acquisition of land, and (3) management 

 and preparation of schemes, &c. 



Specimen forms of account A. and B. for this purpose are enclosed 

 herewith.* The Board would be glad if your Council would render 

 accounts under the Act in the manner indicated in these forms, so far 

 as circumstances permit. 



The Board will then be in a better position to consider whether the 

 proposed apportionment is a reasonable one, and they will be able to 

 repay at once the expenses incurred in relation to the acquisition of 

 land, leaving the repayment of half of the expenses of ascertaining the 

 demand to be made when the accounts have been audited and a properly 

 certified claim can be made in accordance with the Treasury Minute of 

 the 19th October, 1908. 



I am to request that all accounts of expenditure and claims for 

 repayment may be sent to the Board in duplicate, and as the Board 

 are required to furnish to the Comptroller and Auditor General the 

 original vouchers for the items in respect of which they make a repay- 

 ment, I am to request that the vouchers for the payments may, as far 

 as possible, be sent to the Board with the claim, the absence of a 

 voucher in any case being explained by a note on the account. Where 

 a portion only of a charge is repaid by the Board the voucher will be 

 returned on application if it is further required for county or borough 

 purposes. 



Where a salaried land agent or other officer has been specially 

 appointed by the Council to deal with work under the Act the appor- 

 tionment of the salary actually paid should be made on the basis of the 

 proportion of time which has been spent on the three above-mentioned 

 classes of work, viz., ascertaining the demand, acquisition of land, and 

 management, &c, travelling and other expenses of a general nature 

 being apportioned in like manner when it is not possible to make a 

 more exact apportionment. 



As was indicated in the Board's circular letter of the 24th April, 

 1908, they will be prepared to repay the conveyancing expenses in 

 connection with the acquisition of land, and these will include, in the 

 case of purchases, the stamp duty and the scale charges of the Clerk 

 or other officer of the Council where he acts as their solicitor, and is 

 entitled to charge the Council for investigating the title, preparing and 

 settling the draft conveyance, and completing the purchase. The fees 

 payable on registration of the land with a possessory title and the legal 

 expenses in accordance with the Land Transfer Rules will be treateu 

 in the same way. The Board do not regard the employment of a 

 solicitor to negotiate purchases and leases as a necessary expense for 

 the Council to incur, whether the solicitor is Clerk to the Council or 

 not, and they are, therefore, not prepared to repay negotiation fees 

 unless the circumstances are exceptional. W T ith regard to vendors' 

 costs the Board are of opinion that, in view of Section 82 of the Lands 

 Clauses Consolidation Act, 1845, and of the judgments in the case of 

 In Re Burdekin (64 L.J. Ch. 561), a Council can, in the case of a 

 voluntary purchase otherwise than at auction and in the absence of 

 some provision as to costs in the contract, be called upon to pay the 



* Not printed. 



3 A 2 



